The Impact of Social Media on Hotel Performance
Gone are the days when Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were purely mediums to share what you had for breakfast with your friends!
As a hotel marketing agency, we are already familiar with a number of marketing tools that you must look to deploy in order for you to get guests to book direct on your website. However, aside from social media there are few other marketing techniques and platforms that enable you to promote the personality behind your hotel.
Brand awareness through paid social
People generate an opinion within a matter of seconds, so it is so important to make a great first impression.
Paid social advertising may require an initial small investment, however the results and positive ROI make it a no brainer. Paid Social ads enable you to target exactly the core demographics of the customers you are looking to book with your hotel. This means that you can promote your offers, rooms and any other core business areas direct to the customers who are likely to be interested in your hotel, over any others within the surrounding area.
Just remember, every post you make is a representation of your brand so make it count!
Engagement with your hotel
So you’ve got a social media account and you are posting regularly, but you’re not getting engagement? The likelihood is, whilst you may be posting regularly, the things that you are posting may not be engaging potential guests for stays. A fantastic way of gaining engagement is posting posts your audience can relate to, asking people questions, holding competitions – as examples. If your hotel is experiencing a quiet period, why not run a competition asking people to share positive stories about your hotel in order for them to win a chance to stay?
Influencer strategy
People trust influencer endorsements more than they trust celebrity endorsements. It’s just a fact. So when a social media blogger/influencer gives your hotel a positive review, you are guaranteed to gain more interest from consumers. People who follow social media influencers are split into two main categories; aspirational’s and potential customers. This is a really positive proposition for hotels, as a positive review from an influencer not only encourages people to book and endorses your hotel, but also causes a buzz and creates an air of exclusivity.
Once influencers are interacting with your brand, don’t forget to interact! Interaction with your audience helps to build the personality of the brand and encourages users to engage with you. There will be many occasions where users will use social media as a means of direct communication with your hotel. Perhaps those that engage are wondering what time check out is, perhaps they want to know if they can bring their dog! Whatever the question, it is vital that your hotel marketing team responds to them in a friendly, timely and efficient manner. This can have a hugely positive impact on customer relationship management, and Facebook even scores you on your response time ????
*Key note: with a mass of influencers around nowadays, always be scrutinise influencers engagement and the level of influence they have recorded for other hotels.
Links Links Links!
One important thing to remember is that whilst you are trying to boost brand awareness and engagement across your social media channels, ultimately your aim is to get visitors to your website! 80% of the content that you are posting needs to be engagement focused whilst the other 20% can be linked to sales. Whatever it is you are posting about just remember to link it back to your website. One great technique is to give readers just enough to engage them and then, encourage them to visit your website to learn more. Once you have got the users on your website you are in a perfect position to encourage them to book direct.
Visibility of your Hotel through social encourages direct bookings!
Ultimately, your hotel should be looking to secure direct bookings at a low cost per acquisition (CPA). If social media can influence stays at your premises, it may be worth focusing more on social to boost traffic and engagement with your website to secure more direct bookings. In an era where many hotels could be relying too heavily on bookings through online travel agents (OTAs), the cost per acquisition for a booking generated through an OTA i.e. Hotels.com can be reduced significantly through securing a direct booking to your hotel. This can be achieved through advertising at a cheaper cost through social media than the amount your hotel may be paying out in commission to an OTA to secure a booking.
UP Hotel Agency are specialists in social media for hotels! There is very little that our team don’t know when it comes to marketing your hotel through social media and therefore if you need a hand, don’t be shy and click here to get in touch!
